Democrats Gain 2 House Seats in Virginia, Easily Retain Senate Seat

Democrats apparently flipped two of Virginia’s 11 House seats, adding them to the nationwide blue wave. The slate featured a mix of easy-to-call races with some nail-biters, as counting stretched into the night.

In the 1st District, Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor declared victory in her race against Republican 10-term incumbent Rep. Rob Wittman. “Corporate special interests have captured our federal government,” she said. Taylor vowed to “work to ban stock trading by members of Congress, so our leaders work for us and not ourselves.”

At 11:47 p.m., The Associated Press called the race in the 2nd District Democrat Elaine Luria, who represented the district for two terms before losing her seat in 2022, toppled Rep. Jen Kiggans.

On the eve of the election, outgoing House Speaker Mike Johnson visited both districts to stump for the incumbents. “The victory is going to be so much sweeter because they all think that we’re all going to be so forlorn tomorrow night and I’m not buying it,” Johnson told a crowd of Wittman supporters. “I believe we are going to shock them tomorrow night.”

Just after 11:30 p.m., Rep. John McGuire spoke to supporters in Charlottesville and declared: “We’ve won this race.” If the result holds up, it would be his second term representing the 5th District in the House, where McGuire vowed to keep working hard despite the nationwide swing to Democrats.

However, former Rep. Tom Perriello, who represented the district for a single term from 2009 to 2011, did not concede. “The race for the 5th District is too close to call and every vote must be counted,” he announced just after midnight. “We must ensure all of the thousands of votes left to count, including those of our brave men and women in uniform serving overseas, are counted and every voice is heard.”

As of 6 a.m. Eastern, McGuire held a 5,667 vote lead with an estimated 9,500 votes yet to be counted.

There was no shock at the top of the ticket. Sen. Mark Warner, a three-term Democrat, cruised to reelection with almost 60% of the vote over Republican Bert Mizusawa. The Associated Press called that race as soon as the polls closed at 7 p.m. Warner said this will be his final term in the Senate.

Democrats attempted to redistrict the state in a surprise move earlier this year. In April, voters passed a constitutional amendment that included redrawn districts that would have given Democrats an edge in 10 of the 11 seats. The state Supreme Court set that vote aside in May.

Still, Republican incumbents found themselves defending four competitive districts. Only Rep. Ben Cline in the 6th District scored a solid victory, holding his seat with a roughly 55%-45% victory over author and journalist Beth Macy. She told the Daily Signal last month that she decided to enter the race last year after the House passed President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

A number of House seats were cakewalks. Republican incumbent Morgan Griffith took two-thirds of the vote in the 9th Congressional District, which covers the southwestern area of the state.

Democrats rolled—as expected—in the 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 10th, and 11th Congressional Districts. Coming into the night, Democrats held six of the commonwealth’s House seats and Republicans held five.

All three of the statewide proposed constitutional amendments passed easily, despite a strong push by religious groups to oppose them, including a day of fasting and prayer on Election Day.

“I first and foremost express my sincere gratitude to the clergy, consecrated religious, and lay faithful across the Commonwealth of Virginia, and locally in the Diocese of Arlington, for their faithful witness to the Gospel of Life and for raising awareness about the threats posed by Ballot Questions 1 and 2 this election season,” Michael F. Burbidge, the bishop of Arlington, said. “Despite this defeat, faithful Catholics may be consoled by the certainty that each one of us gave God our best efforts, and that he will not allow those efforts to be in vain. We know the truth, and no temporary political defeat changes this reality.”

The first amendment enshrines the right to abortion in the state constitution. The second amendment removes Virginia’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage (a prohibition that has been moot because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling). The third amendment restores the voting rights of felons who have served their sentences. Virginia had required the governor to act to restore such rights. 

Early voting this year surpassed 2022 numbers by 74%, with more than 1.6 million ballots cast, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. All results must be certified by the Virginia State Board of Elections. If they do, Republicans will hold three House Seats and Democrats will hold eight.

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